Spring cleaning our body

Spring is here. Today Geelong is nicely warm, a perfect spring day.

You might have dusted your house, weeded your garden to welcome the spring. This morning my Qi Gong instructor reminded us to also spring clean our body. His comments inspire me to write this blog.

From Chinese medicine point of view, Spring is the time for growth and is dominated by wind. We are part of the nature. The change of seasons also brings changes in us. The arrival of spring might make you wanting to be outdoors, and to be active. Those are positive aspects.  The energy however that encourages growth also stirs up what is in dormant, like the hurricane bringing up dust and everything in its path.

 

 

So how do we know if we have issues need to be “spring cleaned”? Here are a few signs.

• Your mood could be oscillating. You are excited, positive one minute, but the next minute, you could be frustrated, or depressed.
• Your previous digestive issue is getting worse lately.
• Your sleep is now disturbed.
• You start to develop hay fever. You might say it is the pollen that causes hay fever. Well if your body is balanced, you will be less likely to have hay fever. We all know we tend to have severe symptoms when we are run down.

So how do we spring clean our body?

In Chinese medicine, mind and body are closely linked, via Qi. That is how emotional issues are manifested through our body, and disturbance in our body can cause disturbed mind.

So spring cleaning the body is to spring clean the Qi to help your body reach a balanced state. Here are a few strategies:

• Exercise: Enhance Qi regulating activities. Throughout the winter, we have been “hibernating”; now it is the time to be active. Activities that encourage flow and regulate breathing are more suitable, such as Yoga, Qi Gong and stretching. If you like jogging, then it is the time to add those gentle activities to your routine.
• Mind: Constrained Qi leads to ruminating thoughts; ruminating thoughts cause Qi constraining. Practise meditation, and let go of negative thoughts when they arise.
• Diet: stay back from food or drinks that stimulate, such as coffee, alcohol, smoking, and dry and spicy food. Your body becomes more sensitive to those food or drinks during spring.
• Acupuncture: is an excellent therapy for soothing and regulating Qi. Many people feel relaxed, or experience peace and openness in their hearts after acupuncture.
• Consultation: book a Chinese medicine consultation to see if and how you can do a bit spring cleaning of your body.

When the house is dusted, garden is weeded, it is time to declutter our body.